South East Asian countries has suddenly seen a sudden surge of tourists from India, especially in the past few years. With rising per capita & disposable income, along with cheaper international flight fares, Indian travellers have started to explore new destinations in the Asian subcontinent. Apart from the usual Singapore and Malaysia, destinations like Indonesia have also become quite popular. The currency rate advantage has also played a strong role in the upsurge of tourism. Not just Bali, but there are plenty of Indonesia offbeat destinations that is attracting visitors every year.
While attending an Indonesia tourism conference in Chennai, I came to know of the aggressive push by Ministry of Tourism of Republic of Indonesia in Indian tourism markets. These were done primarily through sales mission events in Kolkatta and Chennai. I was actually surprised when they revealsed that 485,314 people from India visited Indonesia in 2017 alone. This was a 30% spike from 376,802 people in 2016.
The projected audience is now upto 700,000 in 2018. Hence the air routes has now expanded with more airlines having a one stop connectivity (via KL or Bangkok) to Indonesia. This includes AirAsia Indonesia, Batik Air(Malindo) and the offical airline of Indonesia , Garuda Indonesia. In fact Garuda Indonesia might just open a direct connectivity between Mumbai and Denpasar Airport in Bali (if they get an airport clearance). Some of the other premium/full service airline options include Thai Airways, Singapore Airlines, Malaysian Airlines among others.
Bali in Indonesia has actually become the primary choice for vacation from India, vouched by any tour operator . Some of the key reasons include :
- Similarity in both religious and cultural aspects. Hinduism is still followed widespread in Indonesia
- Affordability is higher thanks to a stronger currency rate
- It takes less than 8-9 hours to reach Bali from Chennai including the one stop. This comes as an ecnouraging factor for a quick 3-4 day trip.
- On-Arrival Visa for Indian Passports
- Rount Trip Ticket fares to Bali starting as low as 15K in certain low cost carriers
- Widespread of Indian cuisine availability
- Indonesia offers plenty of activities such as beaches, mountains, water sports, scuba diving,temples apart from being a luxury vacation destination
- Apart from Bali, other Indonesia offbeat destinations also offers some exciting adventures
Top 10 Indonesia Offbeat Destinations
To a lot many people, when you say Indonesia, the focus is primarily on Bali and surrounding areas. However there are plenty of areas that is still left unexplored by most travellers . Here are 10 offbeat places you can get to go in Indonesia apart from Jakarta or Bali.
- Wakatobi
- The Borobudur
- Mandalika
Source :http://www.thejakartapost.com/travel/2017/11/18/west-nusa-tenggara-tourism-improves-after-mandalika-kek-launch.html
- Lake Toba
- Tanjung Kelayang
- Tanjung Lesung
- Seribu Islands
- Bromo-Tengger-Semeru cluster
- Labuan Bajo
- Morotai
